The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Letting the public talk about the philosophical elements….
Sometime in the first week of December, the Crested Butte Town Council plans to hold a public meeting to let citizens review, opine, vent, criticize, praise and/or constructively suggest improvements related to the Whatever USA, Bud Light event held last month.
At the council’s Monday, October 6 meeting, local gallery owner Shaune Horne told the council there seemed to be a need for such a meeting. He has been reaching out to local retailers and is forming a Downtown Business Association to get input from local small business owners about certain town issues.
“I would like to see a forward-thinking discussion and not a complaint session,” he said. “I’ve been told there are places that allow such events but when sections of the town are shut down, every impacted business is compensated.”
Horne suggested some of the $500,000 gift donated to the community from the event be steered to help pay for infrastructure like signs in the new Creative District designation that was applied by the state to downtown Crested Butte. “That is something that could really nurture the retail community,” he said.
Later in the council meeting, the council agreed with the need for a general meeting.
“It should happen sooner rather than later,” suggested councilperson David Owen.
“Perhaps we dedicate the first hour of a meeting to this specific event and rest to how to deal with events like this in the future,” said councilman Jim Schmidt. “But I don’t think we’ll see something like this again.”
“I think we need this meeting and just open it up and take our lumps,” added councilman Glenn Michel. “A lot of people have legitimate gripes that they should be able to voice, but I too think we should look at what was learned and how to apply that to the future.”
“There is a big difference between special events and major special events and we need a conversation on major special events,” said councilperson Chris Ladoulis.
“Some issues cross both,” said town manager Todd Crossett. “Closing Elk Avenue, for example. That’s a big one for any event. From the staff side, we need clarity in terms of processing. I’m picking up different signals. If it is someone we know putting on an event, I get the message to make it as easy as possible. If it’s someone we don’t know, we are supposed to make it an extensive process. The overarching message to the staff is: Do you want special events or not?”
“To me, what we owe the community is a different issue from the staff,” said mayor Aaron Huckstep. “We have to ask the community the question: Do you ever want to do this again? We winged it and all learned a lot of things but the directive to the community for discussion is what would you like to see in the future?”
Huckstep said he has received very vitriolic emails and feedback from some community members. “We are getting accusations about tarnishing the soul of the community. That’s a community discussion we must have and not a staff direction discussion. So do we want a summer of festivals that grow bigger and bigger?”
“And out of that discussion will be the parameters of how to deal with events in the future,” said Crossett.
“The staff deserves a clear protocol discussion but we will have missed the boat if we don’t grapple with the philosophical differences in the community,” said Huckstep.”
“And we should talk about Bud Light and all that goes with it and get it on the table,” added Ladoulis.
Huckstep thought that discussion would be a major meeting lasting perhaps four hours and should be held at the Center for the Arts.
Horne said he felt that was overestimating the need. “I wouldn’t expect a lot of individual feedback,” he said. “A lot of the vitriol is spent. I think trying to make it a positive thing for the future is where people want to go.”
“I hope you’re right but I think we should open the door and be ready to be here for a while,” said Michel. “If it doesn’t take four hours, we can all go get a beer.”
Schmidt will draft an agenda for such a meeting and run it by the council at the next council meeting on October 20. The idea is to hold the meeting after the budget process but before the Christmas holidays.
